UPDATED: Previously Reported Crane Company Is Not In Fact Helping To Remove New Orleans’ Monuments

All Crane Rental of Louisiana is not in fact helping to remove four of New Orleans’ historical monuments, as previously reported and stated in court documents.

The nation-wide crane company  said that “Despite media reports to the contrary, All Crane Rental of Louisiana is not involved in the project to remove monuments from New Orleans.”

“We understand that the court’s ruling identified All Crane as having been retained for this project, however, All Crane Rental of Louisiana has not been retained and therefore is not providing equipment, nor manpower, for the removal of the monuments,” the company said in a statement.

The job to remove Robert E. Lee Circle, PGT Beauregard’s City Park statue, the Jefferson Davis monument and the Liberty Place monument is still up for grabs at this point.

H&O Investments, which had apparently been working with the city as far back as September, backed out of the job a couple of weeks ago after allegedly receiving death threats.

 

However, an exclusive report by the Hayride found that H&O Investments David Mahler never supported monument removal and actually signed a petition months ago to demand the monuments remain in place.

A source told the Hayride that at the time, on Jan. 12, Mahler did not mention anything about death threats to the company and stated that there was a $10 million performance bond that would be forfeited if H&O Investments backed out of the job.

The costs of the removal process will be paid for by an anonymous donor, selected by Mayor Mitch Landrieu. That money is being funneled through the non-profit Foundation for Louisiana, so that the donor does not have be disclosed publicly.

Coincidentally, an exclusive report by the Hayride found that the Foundation for Louisiana has given to Landrieu’s monument removal supporters back in 2015 while the fight over monuments was taking place and has direct ties to Landrieu.

The group “STAND With Dignity” and “Take Em Down Nola” were both partner groups under the “New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice” group, which often holds rallies comprised for immigrant and illegal immigrants demanding the state to cease deportations.

STAND With Dignity and Take Em Down Nola both fought to remove the monuments in the city, supporting Landrieu’s plan, claiming they were racist nuisances that upheld white supremacy.

Foundation for Louisiana gave the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice a $2,000 grant in 2015 to fund “the People’s Summit on the Black Jobs Crisis.”

Likewise, the Urban League of Greater New Orleans, which applauded Landrieu’s call for the removal of monuments back in June when he first announced the plan, was given a $5,000 grant by the Foundation for Louisiana last year.

President of the Foundation for Louisiana Flozell Daniels, Jr. serves as Ex-officio for the Urban League’s Board of Directors. And Daniels was appointed specifically by Landrieu to co-chair a Racial Reconciliation Committee for the city’s 300th anniversary.

This report has been updated to reflect the fact that All Crane Rental is not involved in monument removal.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Interested in more news from Louisiana? We've got you covered! See More Louisiana News
Previous Article
Next Article

Trending on The Hayride

No trending posts were found.